University of Edinburgh students plan protest following 'less than satisfactory' response to calls for better support for sexual assault survivors

A protest is due to be held at Bristo Square on Wednesday morning following a “less than satisfactory” response from the University of Edinburgh to calls for improvements to its redressal system and better support survivors of sexual violence.

The protest has been organised by the Feminist Society at the university and is due to start at 11am.

The society said the current redressal system fails victims of sexual assault who may experience “victim blaming” and who are “left in the dark throughout the justice process”.

It added its members believe the system aims to minimise damage to both the perpetrator and the university and that the ‘report and support’ scheme sets the victim up for disappointment.

The protest has been organised for students and student-led groups to put pressure on the university to take immediate action.

In a social media post the Feminist Society said it wants the university to protect its students, to take accountability for the harm they cause victims and to change their sexual violence redressal system to support and believe victims.

In recent months in a bid to encourage change a petition was started which received over 50,000 signatures, and an open letter with over 500 signatures detailing experiences of students was written and addressed to Professor Peter Mathieson, current principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.

University of Edinburgh students plan protest following 'less than satisfactory' response to calls for better support for sexual assault survivors. (Picture credit: Lisa Ferguson)

The letter references a survey conducted by the Feminist Society which received 90 respondents. Of those 90 students; 68 said they had been sexually assaulted in some form, 52 said they had experienced sexual harassment in the form of unwanted touching and eight said they had been raped.

Additionally, 13 of the incidents reportedly occurred in university student halls and 59 respondents said they didn’t feel confident in how to report or receive support from the university.

The open letter included responses from people who took part in the survey with one individual claiming that they had been advised by university support services that they were “too drunk” when an incident occurred.

A post on the Edinburgh University Feminist Society Instagram account advertising the protest. (Credit: Edinburgh University Feminist Society)

Another claimed victims were told not to share concerns regarding sexual assault on campus with anyone other than university counsellors.

Others stated that a clearer way of reporting incidents and stronger support systems would improve university life, with one person saying they didn’t even know they could report incidents of sexual assault to their educators.

The Feminist Society believes the university’s response to these steps has been “less than satisfactory" and hopes Wednesday’s protest will add further pressure.

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said: “The strength of feeling around these issues is something the University fully understands. We do not tolerate sexual violence within our community and we investigate all reports made to us thoroughly.

The protest is due to start at 11am in Bristo Square. (Picture credit: Lisa Ferguson)

“Our processes are robust, but we will always seek to make improvements wherever we can and we intend to work with colleagues within our students association to ensure that the voices of students are included in any decisions on changing the way that sexual assaults within our community are reported and investigated.

“Anyone who has experienced sexual violence within the University can use our Report and Support platform which be found here: https://reportandsupport.ed.ac.uk”

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